Britain's gay marriage bill finally vaulted its last major hurdle. It passed its final reading in the House of Lords, prompting celebrations from campaigners outside the Houses of Parliament.

Pink carnations were the flower of the day for supporters of the bill in the Upper House as the Lords agreed to return it to the House of Commons. Lawmakers will review proposed amendments before it finally passes into law. Further hitches are not anticipated, as the House of Commons earlier passed the bill 390 to 148.

The bill will enable gay couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies in England and Wales, though the Church of England, predictably divided on the issue, is barred from offering same-sex ceremonies.

Though the debate between the conservative and religeous right and the liberal left has been long and acrimonious, the passage to legislation has proved relatively smooth. Some creit must go to coalition leaders, Cameron and Clegg, who strongly advocated the change and generated a cross-party consensus.

It is expected that the Queen will give her assent to this quite radical piece of social legislation by the end of this week. It opens the way for the first legally recognised same-sex weddings to take place in England and Wales by next summer. The longstanding concept of marriage as being solely between a man and a woman now nears its end.

Related Stories

The hot story, gay marriage. Big deal or trivial symbol?
So the big story on gay acceptance is that it progresses globally, as we reported last June. The hot story, however, is the vexed issue of gay marriage.
Credits: models Chad White, Brian Shimansky for Flaunt magazine, photographed by... Read More >

New Zealand joins the gay marriage party. Cue Maurice Williamson.
A "Gay Rainbow" that appeared over Maurice Williamson's Electorate Office on the day of his speech.
It happened just a week after huge strides towards gay marriage in France and Uruguay. Maurice Williamson, New Zealand M.P, had... Read More >

A Tale of Two Cities and Their Gay Marriage Votes. Plus Rome!City 1. LONDON, Feb 5.
The Lower House of Parliament, the Commons, passed the first stage of the new law to enable gay marriage in the UK. As expected, close to half of the conservative Tory Party membership either abstained or... Read More >

Gay marriage. Where to do it? Ten top cities revealed.
While continuing our support for gay marriage, we felt we were failing to answer a simple question: where to do it?
In the absence, for now, of top hot destination, London, it’s legal for gay couples to wed in all of the cities below,... Read More >